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John F. Kennedy High

Q: Is John F. Kennedy High a good school?

John F. Kennedy High ranks 401 st of 2162 California high schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

Public Grades 9-12

401^st

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 2,162 California High Schools

Better than 81% of California high schools

Summary

John F. Kennedy High is a large, comprehensive public high school serving grades 9-12 to nearly 2,000 students in La Palma, California, within the Anaheim Union High district, and it stands out for its exceptional ability to graduate students successfully despite serving a population with significant economic needs.

The school's greatest strength is its near-perfect graduation rate of 99.6% and a 0.0% dropout rate, which are the best among all nearby comprehensive high schools, outperforming even highly selective schools like Oxford Academy and Whitney (Gretchen) High. It also achieves strong results in English Language Arts, significantly outperforming schools with similar student demographics like Artesia High and Western High. This consistent, high performance over the past decade makes it a standout within its district.

Areas for community attention include a notable gap where math and science proficiency is more moderate compared to its strong English scores, a pattern different from a school like Cypress High. Chronic absenteeism, while lower than the district average, is higher than at several peer schools. Overall, Kennedy High is a resilient and effective institution that reliably prepares its diverse student body for graduation and beyond.

1,983

Students ?

23.7

Student/teacher ratio ?

$17,222

Per pupil spending ?

69.5%

Free/discounted lunch ?

8281 Walker St.
La Palma, CA 90623-2126

(714) 220-4101

District: Anaheim Union High

Feeder schools for John F. Kennedy High:

Elementary:	Clara J. King Elementary
	George B. Miller Elementary
	Los Coyotes Elementary
	Raymond Temple Elementary
	More...
	Steve Luther Elementary
Middle:	Walker Junior High

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

45.0%

Asian:

31.4%

White:

13.8%

See top rated California high schools

Compare John F. Kennedy High to nearby high schools!

At a glance

▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 87th percentile in 2015 → 81st in 2025

Strengths

✓Test scores above the California average (51% vs 41% meeting standards)

✓Ranks in the top 19% of California high schools

✓100% graduate in 4 years — above the California average (88%)

Worth a look

!Ranking has slipped — down 6 percentile points since 2015

!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing

!Large classes — about 24 students per teacher

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school51%

District avg32%

California avg41%

401^st of 2,162

California public high schools ?

Top 19%▼ down 6 pts since 2015

From top 13% (2015) to top 19% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of California High Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

4^th of 12High Schools in the Anaheim Union High

861^st of 1,543Anaheim Union High among California districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	80.3	401 of 2162	81.5%	★★★★☆
2024	88.7	254 of 2159	88.2%	★★★★☆
2023	86.6	279 of 2170	87.1%	★★★★☆
2022	85.4	279 of 2123	86.9%	★★★★☆
2021	88.3	154 of 1290	88.1%	★★★★☆
2019	84.7	281 of 2133	86.8%	★★★★☆
2018	80.3	405 of 2017	79.9%	★★★★☆
2017	88.0	241 of 2021	88.1%	★★★★☆
2016	84.2	304 of 2039	85.1%	★★★★☆
2015	86.1	252 of 1994	87.4%	★★★★☆
2013	78.7	157 of 2426	93.5%	★★★★★
2012	83.2	99 of 2354	95.8%	★★★★★
2011	80.2	146 of 2367	93.8%	★★★★★
2010	73.6	224 of 2281	90.2%	★★★★★
2009	66.6	313 of 2238	86.0%	★★★★☆
2008	65.0	376 of 2117	82.2%	★★★★☆
2007	82.6	87 of 2063	95.8%	★★★★★
2006	81.1	110 of 1968	94.4%	★★★★★
2005	77.0	128 of 1901	93.3%	★★★★★
2004	64.2	279 of 1653	83.1%	★★★★☆

African American

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	43.5	267 of 523	48.9%	★★☆☆☆
2024	87.5	49 of 517	90.5%	★★★★★
2023	91.7	41 of 521	92.1%	★★★★★
2022	98.8	4 of 522	99.2%	★★★★★
2019	85.9	57 of 592	90.4%	★★★★★
2018	79.2	110 of 582	81.1%	★★★★☆

Asian

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	62.5	266 of 585	54.5%	★★★☆☆
2024	72.8	183 of 573	68.1%	★★★☆☆
2023	64.1	252 of 591	57.4%	★★★☆☆
2022	70.4	191 of 581	67.1%	★★★☆☆
2019	76.1	138 of 582	76.3%	★★★★☆
2018	65.3	233 of 581	59.9%	★★★☆☆

Disabled

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2022	80.1	131 of 1161	88.7%	★★★★☆
2021	78.1	71 of 555	87.2%	★★★★☆
2019	75.0	173 of 1117	84.5%	★★★★☆
2018	61.6	271 of 1052	74.2%	★★★★☆

English Language Learner

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2024	69.4	126 of 1085	88.4%	★★★★☆
2023	54.0	288 of 1064	72.9%	★★★★☆
2022	70.2	106 of 1044	89.8%	★★★★☆
2021	45.1	212 of 467	54.6%	★★★☆☆
2019	54.0	236 of 941	74.9%	★★★★☆
2018	76.8	116 of 938	87.6%	★★★★☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	78.7	371 of 1906	80.5%	★★★★☆
2024	88.6	210 of 1915	89.0%	★★★★☆
2023	87.8	219 of 1915	88.6%	★★★★☆
2022	84.5	253 of 1858	86.4%	★★★★☆
2021	84.0	156 of 1054	85.2%	★★★★☆
2019	88.5	178 of 1833	90.3%	★★★★★
2018	77.9	386 of 1760	78.1%	★★★★☆

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	68.0	531 of 1900	72.1%	★★★★☆
2024	82.0	264 of 1902	86.1%	★★★★☆
2023	79.4	322 of 1917	83.2%	★★★★☆
2022	82.5	222 of 1861	88.1%	★★★★☆
2019	90.2	123 of 1814	93.2%	★★★★★
2018	73.7	425 of 1742	75.6%	★★★★☆

Homeless

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	56.2	155 of 410	62.2%	★★★☆☆
2022	89.1	14 of 290	95.2%	★★★★★

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	80.6	324 of 2013	83.9%	★★★★☆
2024	91.6	137 of 2026	93.2%	★★★★★
2023	88.3	192 of 2030	90.5%	★★★★★
2022	89.0	163 of 1943	91.6%	★★★★★
2021	94.1	47 of 1126	95.8%	★★★★★
2019	83.0	237 of 1937	87.8%	★★★★☆
2018	83.5	267 of 1862	85.7%	★★★★☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	78.3	390 of 1942	79.9%	★★★★☆
2024	85.8	266 of 1948	86.3%	★★★★☆
2023	82.8	325 of 1963	83.4%	★★★★☆
2022	83.2	267 of 1916	86.1%	★★★★☆
2021	88.8	131 of 1122	88.3%	★★★★☆
2019	90.0	156 of 1880	91.7%	★★★★★
2018	78.1	402 of 1834	78.1%	★★★★☆

Military Connected

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	57.8	71 of 175	59.4%	★★★☆☆
2024	86.6	23 of 183	87.4%	★★★★☆
2023	40.1	111 of 190	41.6%	★★☆☆☆

Multi-racial

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	84.1	87 of 577	84.9%	★★★★☆
2024	86.2	60 of 574	89.5%	★★★★☆
2023	75.1	122 of 541	77.4%	★★★★☆
2022	62.2	189 of 515	63.3%	★★★☆☆
2019	70.3	118 of 422	72.0%	★★★★☆
2018	45.6	218 of 366	40.4%	★★☆☆☆

Special Education

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	57.1	384 of 1252	69.3%	★★★☆☆
2024	70.9	227 of 1216	81.3%	★★★★☆
2023	69.7	217 of 1197	81.9%	★★★★☆

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	64.3	412 of 1155	64.3%	★★★☆☆
2024	73.3	311 of 1173	73.5%	★★★★☆
2023	65.1	410 of 1193	65.6%	★★★☆☆
2022	60.5	454 of 1204	62.3%	★★★☆☆
2019	69.5	345 of 1222	71.8%	★★★★☆
2018	58.3	555 of 1173	52.7%	★★★☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

Disabled (2022)89th percentile~ school

English Language Learner (2024)88th percentile~ school

Multi-racial (2025)85th percentile+3 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)84th percentile~ school

Female (2025)81st percentile~ school

Male (2025)80th percentile~ school

Hispanic (2025)72nd percentile-9 vs school

Special Education (2025)69th percentile-12 vs school

White (2025)64th percentile-17 vs school

Homeless (2025)62nd percentile-19 vs school

Military Connected (2025)59th percentile-22 vs school

Asian (2025)55th percentile-27 vs school

African American (2025)49th percentile-33 vs school

By subject vs California (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts/Literacy74%+25 vs state

Science41%+8 vs state

Mathematics40%~ state avg

★

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Schools Near John F. Kennedy High

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				CAST Science (2025)				Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy (2025)				Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2025)				Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	CAST Science 8th Grade	CAST Science 11th Grade	CAST Science 12th Grade	CAST Science All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
John F. Kennedy High	Public	9-12	8281 Walker St.	La Palma	90623	Orange County	Anaheim Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 220-4101	1,983	83	23.7	69.5%	274 (13.8%)	74 (3.7%)	893 (45.0%)	622 (31.4%)	11 (0.6%)	9 (0.5%)	99 (5.0%)	80.3	401^st of 2162 public high schools	81.5%		88.7	254^th of 2159 public high schools	88.2%	147		41.3		40.9			73.5	73.5			39.8	39.8	$17,222	$804	$16,418
Oxford Academy	Public	7-12	5172 Orange Ave.	Cypress	90630	Orange County	Anaheim Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 220-3055	1,315	53	24.9	50.0%	65 (4.9%)	10 (0.8%)	230 (17.5%)	960 (73.0%)	15 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (2.7%)	99.3	5^th of 2162 public high schools	99.8%		99.5	5^th of 2159 public high schools	99.8%		89.1	93.0		90.8	99.6	97.4	98.4	98.5	94.3	93.9	95.1	94.4	$16,129	$701	$15,428
Cypress High	Public	9-12	9801 Valley View St.	Cypress	90630	Orange County	Anaheim Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 220-4144	2,685	100	26.8	60.8%	493 (18.4%)	80 (3.0%)	883 (32.9%)	1,054 (39.3%)	20 (0.7%)	11 (0.4%)	140 (5.2%)	83.8	340^th of 2162 public high schools	84.3%		90.4	214^th of 2159 public high schools	90.1%	126		44.9	36.4	44.8			68.0	68.0			49.5	49.5	$16,182	$807	$15,375
Hope	Public	7-12	7901 Knott Ave.	Buena Park	90620	Orange County	Anaheim Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 220-4198	231	30	7.7	68.8%	39 (16.9%)	6 (2.6%)	135 (58.4%)	43 (18.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.3%)	5 (2.2%)								(n/a)													$73,698	$1,369	$72,329
Artesia High	Public	9-12	12108 East Del Amo Blvd.	Lakewood	90715	Los Angeles County	ABC Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 229-7700	1,384	75	18.4	86.3%	26 (1.9%)	73 (5.3%)	1,069 (77.2%)	149 (10.8%)	4 (0.3%)	10 (0.7%)	53 (3.8%)	48.5	1068^th of 2162 public high schools	50.6%		44.5	1137^th of 2159 public high schools	47.3%	69		24.9		24.3			47.2	47.2			24.9	24.9	$19,786	$2,131	$17,655
Western High	Public	9-12	501 South Western Ave.	Anaheim	92804	Orange County	Anaheim Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 220-4040	1,446	66	21.8	89.9%	109 (7.5%)	43 (3.0%)	1,105 (76.4%)	143 (9.9%)	8 (0.6%)	6 (0.4%)	31 (2.1%)	39.4	1278^th of 2162 public high schools	40.9%		48.3	1049^th of 2159 public high schools	51.4%	229		22.7	18.2	22.6			44.1	44.1			16.0	16.0	$19,678	$1,274	$18,404
Cerritos High	Public	9-12	12500 East 183rd St.	Cerritos	90703	Los Angeles County	ABC Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 229-7715	1,996	83	23.9	43.1%	138 (6.9%)	112 (5.6%)	596 (29.9%)	1,036 (51.9%)	5 (0.3%)	6 (0.3%)	102 (5.1%)	95.2	92^nd of 2162 public high schools	95.7%		94.1	130^th of 2159 public high schools	94.0%	38		59.6		59.5			86.7	86.7			57.9	57.9	$18,498	$1,988	$16,510
Whitney (Gretchen) High	Public	7-12	16800 Shoemaker Ave.	Cerritos	90703	Los Angeles County	ABC Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 229-7745	1,024	39	25.9	31.0%	31 (3.0%)	22 (2.1%)	133 (13.0%)	790 (77.1%)	3 (0.3%)	3 (0.3%)	42 (4.1%)	99.5	1^st of 2162 public high schools	100.0%		99.6	1^st of 2159 public high schools	100.0%		93.3	97.1		95.2	98.2	99.4	100.0	99.2	95.7	99.4	98.8	98.0	$16,454	$1,529	$14,925
Los Alamitos High	Public	9-12	3591 Cerritos Ave.	Los Alamitos	90720	Orange County	Los Alamitos Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 799-4780	2,915	117	25.0	16.4%	1,159 (39.8%)	103 (3.5%)	877 (30.1%)	475 (16.3%)	2 (0.1%)	22 (0.8%)	266 (9.1%)	85.2	309^th of 2162 public high schools	85.7%		92.5	171^st of 2159 public high schools	92.1%	138		47.7	0.0	46.8			73.0	73.0			45.7	45.7	$16,060	$609	$15,451
ABC Secondary (Alternative)	Public	7-12	12222 Cuesta Dr.	Cerritos	90703	Los Angeles County	ABC Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 229-7770	17	4	4.2	64.7%	2 (11.8%)	2 (11.8%)	11 (64.7%)	2 (11.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)													$15,988	$1,988	$14,000

Frequently Asked Questions about John F. Kennedy High

What schools feed into John F. Kennedy High?

John F. Kennedy High is fed by the following schools:

Elementary : Clara J. King Elementary
Elementary : George B. Miller Elementary
Elementary : Los Coyotes Elementary
Elementary : Raymond Temple Elementary
Elementary : Steve Luther Elementary
Middle : Walker Junior High

What district is John F. Kennedy High in?

Anaheim Union High

What is the racial makeup of John F. Kennedy High?

Students at John F. Kennedy High are 45% Hispanic, 31% Asian, 14% White, 5% Two or more races, 4% African American.

How many students attend John F. Kennedy High?

In the 2024-25 school year, 1,983 students attended John F. Kennedy High.

Is John F. Kennedy High a good school?

John F. Kennedy High ranks 401^st of 2162 California high schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

Rate John F. Kennedy High!

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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.